Curtain drier



March 1942- F. B. LOUSTALET CUR'TAIN DRIER.

fiQCCGCCOGQO uOONOOOCCOOO Filed Nov. 18, 1940 INVENTOR Patented Mar. 31,1%42 one CURTAIN DRIER This invention relates to devices for drying wetsheet material such as fabrics or curtains.

It is an object or" the invention to provide an improved rack orstretcher for holding curtains or other fabrics.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a drier rack whichmay be quickly and easily adjusted to accommodate sheet material orourtains of difierent sizes.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide novel means forpreventing bowing of edges of the sheet material or curtain after it ismounted on th rack or stretcher.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage which,together with the foregoing, will be specifically brought out in thedetailed description of the preferred embodiment of the inventionhereunto annexed. It is to be understood that the invention is not to belimited to the specific form thereof herein shown and described asvarious other embodiments thereof may be employed within the scope ofthe appended claim.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the drier rack or stretcher.Portions of the View are broken away so as to condense the view.

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the structure shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is an end elevational view of the structure shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a portion of the rackor stretcher. Th plane in which the view is taken is indicated by theline 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on the line 55 ofFigure 1. I

The rack or stretcher, shown in detail in Figures 1 through 5, comprisesa rectangular wooden frame having side posts I1, a top rail I 8 and abase rail l9. Sheet metal corner brackets 2| are secured by rivets 22 tothe ends of the top rail l8 and the upper ends of the side posts I! andan angle bar 23 extends along one side of the base rail l9 and issecured thereto and to the lower ends of the side posts [1. by rivets24. A metal strip 26 secured by screws, or otherwise, to the uppersurface of the top rail l8, has a portion thereof extending beyond theside of the top rail, as shown best in Figure 4, to form a flange 21 andthe horizontal flange 28 of the angle bar 23 extends similarly beyondthe side of the base rail l9. Floor-engaging wheels 29, positionedwithin spaced openings 3| formed in the base rail l9 and journaled 0nbolts 32 passing transversely through the base rail, are provided sothat the stretcher may be readily moved over the surface of the floor orground.

Means is provided which permits attachment of sheets of material, suchas curtains, to the stretcher frame and means is also provided foradjusting the attachment means so as to accommodate sheets of varioussizes. Each of the side posts I? and the top rail l8 are provided with amarginal rabbet 33, Figure 3, in which is secured, by screws 34 orotherwise, a channel-shaped sheet metal mounting plate 36 havingmarginal flanges 3'5 which are rolled to positions overlying a strip 38of carding cloth having wire bristles 3i projecting from one surfacethereof. Positioned within the frame and extending longitudinally of thespace between the side posts ll thereof is an adjustable rail 4| havingan edge rabbet in which an additional mounting plate 36 is securedprovided with a carding cloth strip carrying bristles 39. Extension bars42, which are secured to the ends of the adjustable rail 4| by rivets orbolts 43 project from the rail 4! to positions overlying opposite sidesof the side posts I"! and bolts 44 fitted with wing nuts 46 are providedat the ends of the extension bars for clamping the latter to the sideposts. It will he therefore seen that the rail 4|, after the wing nuts46 have been loosened, may be raised or lowered to any position desiredto suit the width of the sheet material to be mounted on the stretcherand that the rail 4i may be then secured in this selected position byagain tightening the wing nuts 46. Provided in the flanges 21 and 28, ofthe strip 26 and the angle bar 23 respectively, are spaced apertures 4!in which the opposite shank ends 48 of an anchor rod 49 are adapted tobe detachably secured. A sheet metal end rail 5! is secured to theanchor rod 49 having a marginal portion 52 rolled to encircle the rodand provided on the opposite edge with an upwardly turned flange 53. Asheet metal mounting plate 36, carrying carding cloth provided with wirebristles 39, is mounted on the end rail 5|. The end rail assembly may beadjustab-ly positioned longitudinally of the stretcher frame by liftingupwardly on the end rail so as to raise the shorter lower shank end 48out of the aperture 41 of the angle bar flange 28, drawing the lower endof the end rail outwardly so as to clear the angle bar, and thenlowering the end rail so that the upper shank end 48 may be withdrawnfrom the aperture of the strip 26. The end rail 5| may then be movedalong the frame to any position desired and re-attached to the frame inany opposed pair of the apertures 41 by reversing the above describedprocess of detachment.

It will be seen, in Figure 1, that the bristlebearing portions of thetop rail l8, the left-hand side post H, the adjustable rail 4| and theend rail 5| define a rectangle of adjustably flexible dimensions forreceiving the sheet material or curtains to be dried, the latter beingapplied by laying marginal portions thereof over the bristle border ofthe frame and pressing the fabric into engagement with the ends of thebristles so as to embed the bristles in the fabric. The fabric must, ofcourse, be stretched taut as it is being attached to the frame so thatit will dry out without the formation of wrinkles and without shrinkageof the material.

In the drying of curtains, or other sheets of fabric provided with atubular hem, it is desirable to run a member through the hem, to holdone side of the fabric on the stretcher, in lieu of attaching the fabricto the bristles of the end rail 5| for the reason that the hem will thendry out perfectly straight and will be devoid of waves or otherunevenness which could be caused by a careless application of the fabricto the bristles. To accomplish this method of attachment, I provide ahanger rod 54, similar in construction to the rod 49 and having similarshank ends 55 which may be seated in opposed pairs of the apertures 41.The hanger rod 54 is run through the hem of the curtain or fabric and issecured in a selected pair of the apertures after the curtain or fabrichas been suitably tensioned. When the hanger rod 54 is used, the endrail 5| is not used except in the capacity described hereinafter. Whenthe rod 54 is attached to very wide fabric and the latter is tensionedwhen applied to the stretcher, there will be a tendency for the rod 54to bow in the direction of the applied tension. To help counteract thisbowing of the rod 54 I provide the latter with a sheet metal link 51having at one end a portion rolled to form an eye 58, through which therod 54 may be slidably passed, and having at the other end thereof adownwardly turned lip 59 which may engage in back of the flange 53 ofthe end rail 5|, the latter being attached to the frame within reach ofthe link 51. A collar 6|, adjustably secured to the rod 54 by a thumbscrew 62, is provided below the link 51 so as to maintain the latter atthe desired elevation on the rod 54. The link 51 secures the ratherflexible rod 54 to the relatively rigid end rail 5| so that theabove-mentioned bowing of the rod is lessened to the point where it isnot objectionable and will not cause excess warping of the fabric whenthe latter is dried.

In commercial laundries or large plants devoted to the cleaning ofcurtains or other like fabrics, it is imperative that the fabrics behandled as rapidly as possible if a satisfactory output of work is to bemaintained. This means that the stretchers or frames upon which thefabrics are hung to dry must be rapidly adjustable to accommodatecurtains or sheets of various sizes, must be capable of rapidtransportation into and out of the drying chamber, and, above all, mustpermit the sheet material to be securely attached to the stretcher orframe in the shortest possible time. The stretcher above describedsatisfies all of the above conditions. Adjustment is accomplished bymanipulating the two wing nuts 46 and raising and lowering the rail 4|together with moving the end rail 5! or the rod 54 from one positionlongitudinally of the frame to another. These operations may beperformed very rapidly. The wheels 29 permit the usually heavy andunwieldy frame to be transported very easily by a single person into andout of the drier cabinet. The carding cloth attachment means 39 permitsthe fabrics to be attached to the frame in but a fraction of the timerequired to secure them to the spaced pins heretofore generally used incurtain stretchers.

Having thus described my invention in detail, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A drier comprising a rectangular frame having joined top and bottomrails and side posts, a horizontal adjustable rail mounted for verticalmovement in said frame and extending between the side posts thereof,extension bars secured to the respective ends of said adjustable railand overlying opposite sides of said side posts, bolts connecting saidextension bars for bringing the latter together to clamp said side poststherebetween, a strip of material, secured to and extendinglongitudinally of said top rail, having spaced apertures therein, anangle bar secured to and extending longitudinally of said bottom rail inparallel relation to said top rail strip, said angle bar having thereinspaced apertures 1 vertically axially alined with the apertures of saidtop rail strip, a vertically extending end rail having, at therespective ends thereof, studs entering apertures of the top rail stripand the angle bar and provided with a flange extending longitudinallyalong an edge thereof, a rod paralleling and spaced from said end railand p131: vided at the respective ends thereof with studs engaged inapertures of the top rail strip and the angle bar, and a link carried byand extending radially from said rod and releasably engageable with theflange of said vertically extending end rail.

FRANK B. LQUSTALET.

